Just Friends
by Velvet Death
Summary: Beast Boy and Raven seemed to have a bond, one that Terra was jealous of. Perhaps a little talk between the two girls would clear things up.


**Just Friends**

By Velvet Death

=1=

Terra glanced over at Raven, sitting on the couch, book in hand. Then she looked at Beast Boy, sitting next to her, gaming control in hand. He whooped as he passed Cyborg in a race and Raven gave him a glance over her book. The dark girl scooted a foot away from him and resumed reading. Beast Boy unconsciously moved with her.

Terra grimaced and turned back to the sink full of dirty dishes she was washing. Though she and Beast Boy did have fun together, she had always noticed how attached he was to Raven's scarce praise. She did like the strange, expressionless girl, but sometimes she felt as if she was competing with her for Beast Boy's affections. Obviously, the two must have had something going on before she came. After all, why else would he be so fond of her?

She must have dropped something during her thought because suddenly, the room fell quiet and all turned to look at her. "What?" Terra asked.

"Which dish did you break?" came Raven's cold reply. Terra winced. Raven never seemed to approve of her much. Sometimes she could be friendly, but most times she looked aloof or troubled when interacting with Terra. Was it because Terra was snagging Beast Boy? Was it because Raven cared? Terra shook her head and looked down at the plate she had unwittingly let slip from her fingers.

"Um... the one with the black spiky design is chipped," she said, picking it up.

She could hear a lightbulb shatter behind her and looked back to see Cyborg and Beast Boy shrinking away from Raven. "That," the girl said through gritted teeth, "was my favorite plate."

Terra sweatdropped and laid it aside. "Sorry," she offered, but Raven brushed it away and stood up.

"I'm going to my room. Don't disturb me," she said in her usual monotone, but Terra could still sense that she was still angry.

Terra looked at the plate, then went back to the rest of the soapy dishes with a sigh. Nothing she did could appease Raven, and she wanted so desperately to be her friend. After all, the others accepted her. Why not Raven?

=2=

_Horror movies were the worst_, Terra decided in the middle of **Rise of the Eternal Damned**. A vampire with an ashen face and weird eyes advanced towards a young, teenage boy--the funny guy, in fact.

_You see, the funny guy always gets killed off first!_ Hadn't Beast Boy said something like that before?

Terra pulled her gaze away from the awful suspense of the movie and looked around her. Robin was staring at the screen with an unreadable expression. Starfire peeked out through openings in her fingers as she covered her eyes with her tanned hands, huddling towards Robin. Cyborg was gaping, the popcorn visible in his mouth. Raven blinked once, but didn't seem surprised. Beast Boy, sitting between her and Raven, was leaning behind the cloaked girl so that half his vision was blocked by Raven. Terra felt a pang of jealousy and wound her fingers around Beast Boy's hand possessively. Beast Boy didn't react. He was drooling with shock.

Terra closed her eyes a few seconds and opened them to find Beast Boy in the exact same position. Then she felt a pair of eyes observing her shrewdly--a pair of violet -eyes. Terra turned her gaze onto Raven, who was silently asking a question with her eyes. _What are you doing?_

Terra shook her head and forced a smile, looking back to the screen. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Raven push Beast Boy out from behind her with an exasperated expression. Beast Boy shuddered and scrambled behind the couch, lifting his wide, terrrified eyes over the edge of the couch. Terra turned her attention to the screen just as the vampire cut off his victim's head. She wrinkled her nose as the blood spurted everywhere.

Was it a coincidence that the victim seemed so much like Beast Boy and the vampire so much like a certain mysterious girl?

=3=

She couldn't believe she was doing this. What did Raven merit for her to do this? But she knew she had to, because it was the right thing, the honorable thing to do. The mall was a good place to shop for t-shirts and shorts, for jeans and shoes, for books and electronics. But finding plates with black, spiky patterns was like finding a pearl in the Pacific.

Finally, she came upon a small little boutique that sold dark stuff--heeled, spiked, black shoes with white ivy designs woven onto it, books about blood and night and loneliness, black and white notebooks, gothic dolls, and--amazingly enough--creamy white plates with black spikes all over the edge. Terra quickly bought one, ignoring the stares the other customers (all goths) were giving her, and rushed off.

=4=

As Terra entered the Tower, a great clamor was rising in the living room. Cyborg and Beast Boy were arguing over video games and Starfire was happily playing the game they had abandoned in their fury. She hid the shopping bag behind her and waved at them awkwardly. "Hey, I'm back," she said.

Beast Boy gave her a grin and Cyborg managed a hello before they set to bickering again. Terra sighed in relief. She didn't want anyone finding out about what she's going to do. Starfire, however, was much more enthusiatic.

"Friend Terra!" Starfire said joyously. "You will join me in the racing of vehicles on the module of gaming?"

Terra gulped. "Uh, not right now. Maybe in a few minutes. I have to go... do something."

Starfire looked a little disappointed, but went back to the video game anyway. Terra, seeing as none of them were watching her, tiptoed towards the stairs and raced up. She slid to a stop at Raven's door and paused. Was this the right thing to do? She shook her head. She had to do it. It was imperative, in fact, that she do this, or else face more tension around Raven. Finally, just as she was about to knock, the door slid open slightly.

"What?" came the irritable greeting.

Terra jumped. "How d'you know I was here?"

"You were coughing and pacing. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

Terra scowled. "Can't you be a little nicer?" she asked just as crossly.

"I've had a long day." Raven's violet eyes looked at her unblinkingly and a strange feeling passed over Terra. _Vampire..._ she thought, remembering the movie. "What is it?"

"Uh..." said Terra, rubbing the back of her neck. It was embarrassing doing this. She should never have come here. "May I come in?" she blurted out.

Raven gave her a discontented look. "Why?"

"Because... I have something to... it's better in private." she finished lamely.

She could almost see Raven's eyebrows lift under her cowl, but she opened the door a crack larger and let Terra squeeze through.

Raven's room was shockingly dark. The walls were black, the bedcovers dark violet, the tables smoky oak, and the chairs solid ebony. Her bookcase contained black spellbooks, black-covered novels, leather-bound poetry books, and even some vampire graphic novels about other dimensions. The lamp had a blue bulb and black glass surrounding it. The decor, the ambience, even the owner of the room was all shadowy. Black, purple, indigo, blue were all that met Terra's vision. In her tastes, it was all too much.

"Well... nice color scheme..." said Terra, looking around.

Raven said nothing; she only sat down on her bed and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Terra chuckled hesistantly for a second and held out the black shopping bag. "Here." She glanced at a plaque hung on the wall of a black-winged wolf dueling with a white-winged lynx.

Raven gave her a look and took the bag from her. "You can sit if you want," she said in her monotone voice. "I'm not gonna bite. The plaque, I'm not so sure about."

Terra looked back at her in surprise; there was a slight twinkle of mirth in Raven's eyes. "Heh, a joke," Terra said nervously. _I didn't know she could even _make _jokes._ She looked back at the plaque unsurely as she lowered herself onto the mattress.

Meanwhile, Raven withdrew from the bag a round object covered in tissure paper and unwrapped it. By the time Terra turned from the creepy plaque to view Raven, the girl was staring at the plate bemusedly.

"So do you like it?" Terra finally asked.

Raven looked up with mild surprise. "Thanks," she said with a slight smile. Terra grinned. "But that was not the only reason you came here, was it?" The grin faded a little.

"Uh, yeah. I.. it's about Beast Boy." Terra blushed profusely.

"Your little Romeo, huh? Well, what is it?" Raven looked bored.

"It's just... do you and BB have something going on? Do you like him?" she blurted out. _Oh no, Terra. That was stupid._ She leaned her head on her hands and waited for the bomb to drop.

Instead, Raven gave a dry laugh. "That's it?" she asked. "That's what you went to all the trouble of finding the plate and coming to my room for? Beast Boy? You two deserve each other."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Terra demanded.

"Just that. Beast Boy and I are friends, Terra. Before you came, he entered my mind--don't ask how--and met my ditzy emotion that said I liked his jokes. Which, of course, I don't. He had a little crush on me then, but when you came, it was all forgotten. So don't worry. And even if there was a so-called 'thing' between us, my powers--my emotions--demand control. I could never be anyone's girlfriend. Understand? We're just friends."

Suddenly, Terra felt a weight lifted from her shoulders and the twist in her stomach pretty much evaporated. "So you don't like BB?"

"Nope. Now can you please leave me alone?"

Terra didn't object; she felt too joyous to argue with the introverted girl. She practically skipped out of the room knowing Beast Boy was hers and hers alone. As she stood in the hall with a brilliant grin on her face, she noticed footsteps at the end. She glanced at the figure of Boy Wonder walking down the hall, whistling cheerfully. As he rounded the corner, Terra could have swore he said, "just friends" in a gleeful tone.

She stood dumbfounded for several seconds. Then an incredulous smirk found its way onto her face.

"Figures."

=Fin=

Disclaimer: Teen Titans = not mine.

This is my first TT fic. Please be nice and review!

As you can figure out, I'm a big Rob/Rav fan. I'm also a Terra/BB fan.


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